What City Council rejected
The resolution approved by the Cebu City Council last July 3, 2026 opposes the plan of Department of Transportation (DOTr) to "prioritize" work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) segment that would serve South Road Properties (SRP).
Many people think the quarrel is over inclusion of SRP and the alleged dropping of the Bulacao, and Talamban segments of BRT. It's not, although VM Tomas has ranted over the preference.
Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña's frequent sniping at the Ayala and SM -- alleging their "hijacking" of the BRT project -- has apparently caused some confusion.
The DOTr plan, which the Osmeña-prodded City Council, rejected, would not change the route in the MOA, which already includes SRP.
Posts on MOA imply Tomas forgot...
... OR changed his mind about the BRT route. And the 2016 MOA, reproduced in social media posts, tended to depict Tomas Osmeña as the vice mayor who would not keep the word he gave when he was mayor.
No one, not even the vice mayor, has come out to question their authenticity. On the contrary, Tomas admitted he signed it.
What the signature meant
From his explanation Monday, July 6, 2026, or three days after the City Council passed the resolution of rejection, VM Tomas said his signature didn't mean he supported the project's "shift away from its original commuter corridor."
He signed the MOA, he said, because it retained the original Bulacao-to-Talamban corridor even as it added SRP to the route.
VM Osmeña though noted that over the years, "implementation has prioritized the SRP at the expense of the city's main commuter routes." The original route is known to have higher transport demand.
Why the stubborn push for the original route: the mass transport system "must serve the populated residential districts rather than just commercial areas."
Has contracted route been altered?
If the project, upon completion, would have the same route agreed upon in the 2016 MOA, it wouldn't be an alteration.
If the "shift" from the sequencing of work on the BRT segments is caused by factors beyond the control of the implementors, the delay on some segments specified in the contract -- which must be close to the heart of VM Tomas -- could be justified.
DOTr claim on cause of change
Schedule of work on the original route has been upset by "unresolved right-of-way issues" affecting 121 properties, according to DOTr's claim.
Revising priorities, project manager Norvin Imbong told the City Council, would enable the use of the remaining loan funds before the September 2026 deadline.
In voting for the Osmeña-sponsored resolution, the City Council is presumed to have verified DOTr's claim on the cause of the change of priorities. Checked out or not, the rejection meant the City Council didn't believe the claim or disregarded it as a factor in their vote.
Collateral damage on SRP malls
VM Osmeña, in attacking the change of priorities, imputed ill-intent to two malls at SRP: Ayala and SM. He said they "hijacked" the project, probably meaning they were responsible for, and profited from, the inclusion of SRP in the route.
"Hijack" is a pretty strong word. Another word that some news media didn't repeat is even harsher, something about "corruption."
No evidence of the accusation was offered and the City Council didn't ask.
What's next; who, what can save it
First, would Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. sign, or allow the measure to lapse, into a duly enacted resolution? Or would the mayor veto it, an action accorded mostly to a proposed ordinance, not a resolution?
Would DOTr, would it comply with the sentiment of the local legislature? If DOTr does not want to heed the City Council, can it simply ignore the resolution? And what would happen to the unspent loan funds?
Can the City Government unilaterally reject the project?
MOA and other documents provide the location of power in making changes or outrightly cancelling it.
The city's top two leaders need to sit down with DOTr top guns, along with other "deciders" of the project, and find ways to agree on saving the BRT.
Who has the last laugh here?
Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr., opposition leader, gloats that he was proved right in his criticism of VM Osmeña's campaign for rejecting the DOTr plan. He's having the "last laugh," he said, when the MOA signed by Osmeña was being circulated.
Others may be laughing too: those who wish ill to Cebu City and its people's aspiration to finally have its first modern mass-transport system.